Study of Siblings’ Brains Provides Clues to Addiction

A new study of siblings’ brain structure and function may provide clues to addiction. Time reports that the study suggests at least some brain changes seen in addiction are a cause of excessive drug use, not the result.

The study looked at the brain structure and cognitive function of 47 people with addiction, 49 of their siblings who were not addicted, and 50 healthy people who were drug-free and not related to the others in the study. The people who were addicted had been using stimulants such as cocaine or amphetamines for an average of 16 years. A little more than half also were addicted to heroin or prescription painkillers, and one-fourth also had alcoholism. Their siblings had minimal exposure to illicit drugs.

All study participants were tested on their ability to control their impulses, which is a predictor of addiction. They were given a stop-signal task, in which they are told to respond quickly and repeatedly in a specific way, such as pushing a button, and then must suddenly stop the behavior.

The researchers report in Science that both people who were addicted and their siblings demonstrated significantly reduced performance on the task compared with the drug-free, unrelated group. The results suggest that poor impulse control is not a result of drug use, but is something people are born with.

The brain scans found the siblings had similar abnormalities in an area of the brain involved with self-control, and in regions that are involved in inhibiting impulses, the article notes.

In a commentary accompanying the study, Dr. Nora Volkow, Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, noted the brain abnormalities seen in the siblings are similar to those seen in the brains of teenagers, who are well known for their impulsive behavior.

Study author Karen Ersche of the University of Cambridge said siblings of drug-addicted people may have inherited a type of protective resilience, such as an easier temperament. “The siblings may have tried drugs, but they never developed the habit,” she said.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY!

Adversity reveals character!  Every challenge we face in life can lift us or sink us what are you gonna do when life hits the fan?  Myself personally would find the nearest drug or bottle of booze and medicate myself into oblivion the only problem was when I came back to my senses life was worse.  So what are you gonna do today when life hits the fan! When it happens to me I like to go some place quiet and pray for peace and wisdom. Taking a time out and changing your surroundings is a great way to put a challenge in a new perspective.  We cannot continue to let adversity rule and determine how we live, but we can take rule over adversity and use it to develop a strong moral character! REMEMBER JESUS LOVES YOU!

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Drugs and Prisons

by John LeeGoogle+ Twitter Facebook

© Prisoner 159753

While differences in politics or philosophy can lead to debate about the best course of action for bettering our national drug problem, no one who looks at the statistics that illustrate the consequences of drug abuse and addiction can deny the enormous monetary and human costs of drugs.

Any conversation on the social costs of drug use must surely contain at least a mention of the enormous numbers of Americans who are or have been incarcerated due to either the use or sale of illegal drugs.

Some of the facts:

• In 2008, according to the Department of Corrections, there were 7,308,200 Americans in the corrections system. On a per capita basis, America has far more of its citizens in jails than any other country in the world. Following America are Russia, Rwanda, St Kitts & Nevis and Cuba.

• In 2007, it cost a state prison an average of $67.55 per day to jail a drug offender. In 2007, state prisons held 253,300 men women and minors, which totals up to a daily cost of $17,110,415 and an annual cost of $6,245,301,475.

• In 2008, states spent $52 billion in jailing people, which is more than twice the amount that was spent on public assistance of all kinds ($25.1 billion)

• In 2006, of those held in state prisons on drug offences, Of the estimated 265,800 prisoners under state jurisdiction sentenced for drug offenses in 2006, 27.1 % were white (27.1%), 44.2% were black and 21% were Hispanic. Blacks account for just over 12% of the total American population.

• In 2000, the average drug felony offender in federal prisons had been sentenced to 75.6 months, which is just slightly less than the average sentence of 86.6 months given to federal offenders who had committed felony violent crimes. ¹

• Since 1992, more than 5 million Americans have been arrested for marijuana. In 1999 - 60 000 Americans were serving time for marijuana offenses.

• Every extra dollar that is spent by local, state or federal governments on substance abuse treatment yields an eventual social costs savings of $7.46²

Read more: Drugs and Prisons 

Marijuana Amotivational Syndrome?

by John LeeGoogle+ Twitter Facebook

© Banalities

Is there any truth to the stereotype of the lazy, half-witted, burnt out marijuana smoker?

Amotivational Syndrome...The Facts 

Amotivational syndrome, a collection of observable consequences of heavy marijuana use that includes apathy, lethargy, reduced concentration, lowered intelligence and a lack of desire to partake in meaningful activities of upwards mobility; has never been clinically proven as factual or real.

No Clinical Causal Link

Problematically, the difficulties inherent in proving a casual link between marijuana usage and such a wide collection of behavioral changes prohibits a clinically demonstrable relationship, and some marijuana users, even heavy smokers, do not seem to display the characteristic traits of the amotivational syndrome.

Governmental propoganda?

A fact not last to marijuana advocates who argue of governmental propaganda and the propagation of myth, something that government have in the past been guilty of, and some would argue remain guilty of to this day. This is unfortunate, as there are enough legitimate risks of marijuana usage to give weight to arguments against its use, without resorting to half truths and myth.

Some Real Statistics About the Harms of Marijuana

But although amotivational syndrome cannot be proven as a casual result of marijuana usage, there are certain statistics that do illustrate the correlation between marijuana use and lowered academic and professional success and accomplishments.

• Marijuana users are less likely to finish high school
• They get lower grades in high school and in college than do non smokers
• They perform lower on tests of intellectual capacity
• They self report a decreased ability to excel professionally
• Heavy marijuana users self report that their marijuana habit decreases their ability to perform complex work tasks well, to learn new tasks professionally and that their marijuana usage has hampered their upwards professional climb.

Marijuana and Developmental Delays in Teens

Marijuana usage is conclusively and casually linked to a reduction in ability to consolidate new memories for about 24 hours after you smoke; which for heavy or daily marijuana smokers means all the time. Essentially, marijuana can decrease your ability to learn.

Psychologists argue that when a teen starts smoking marijuana heavily, they lose the ability to consolidate the emotional and social learning necessary for a real transition out of adolescence and into adulthood. Marijuana blunts the emotional response to external stimuli, and as such when under the influence of marijuana, teens do not appropriately experience complex emotional and developmental challenges, and do not learn healthy was to navigate the emotional and psychosocial landscape of adulthood.

The earlier teens start smoking, the greater the deficit in learned social behaviors, and the greater the eventual harms.

So there is no direct evidence linking marijuana usage to amotivational syndrome, but marijuana does cause decreased academic, professional and general life performance. It does lessen the ability to learn, and when younger teens smoke marijuana heavily, they do not effectively develop emotionally and do not learn effective and appropriate ways to deal with emotional and social challenges in life.

Does It Make You Lazy?

And although marijuana cannot be conclusively linked to amotivational syndrome, most marijuana smokers will concede that under the influence of regular intoxication they are not as likely to accomplish worthwhile goals, and are more likely to focus on transient and meaningless pleasures of stimulation.

• Far less likely to crack the books, and far more likely to play video games.
• Far less likely to look for a new job and far more likely to watch a movie.

Scientists may not be able to prove a casual link, but marijuana smokers know that while high, they just aren’t as motivated to accomplish in life.

Read more: Marijuana Amotivational Syndrome? Does Marijuana Addiction make you Lazy? 

New Small Device Uses Laser to Help Police Quickly Identify Drugs

By Join Together Staff | February 1, 2012 | 1 Comment | Filed in Community Related, Drugs & Legal

Police in Massachusetts are using a handheld device with a low-power laser that helps them to quickly identify drugs. The device, which looks like a game console, is called the Thermo Scientific TruNarc.

The device can be used to scan small bags of drugs, and gives police almost instant identification, according to the Associated Press. Police in Quincy, Massachusetts, who have been testing the device for six months, say it saves them time and money. Police departments in Chicago and Los Angeles also have been testing the device.

Police traditionally have needed to use chemical test kits to identify drugs. The substance is placed in a plastic pouch that contains vials of chemicals. The officer breaks the vials in the pouch and shakes it, and checks to see what color the substance turns. Cocaine turns blue, for instance.

Each substance has its own testing kit. That means police officers may have to use several kits before they positively identify the substance they are testing. The officers must handle the drugs, and potentially could be exposed to them. Once an officer identifies a substance, it must then be sent to a state lab to confirm the findings, which could take weeks or even months. This causes delays in prosecuting cases, the article notes.

TruNarc employs the same scientific techniques used in the lab, the company says. The officer holds the sample bag against the device and presses a scan button. The device does a quick analysis and provides a result.

Police say it can be effective as an initial screen, but a second lab test would still be necessary to prosecute the case in court. The article notes the device cannot test for marijuana.

Each TruNarc device will sell for just under $20,000